Card shuffler



L. l. ALDRICH CARD SI-IUFFLER July 17, 1956 Filed Sept. 27, 1952 CARDSHUFFLER Loyd I'. Aldrich', Wyoming, Iii. Application September 27,1952, SeriafNo; 311,859

z claims. (C1. z7s-149) This invention relates to a shutliing' devicefor playing cards and is specifically designedr for the reception of twopacks of cards, or two decks of cards to be shufed together, such asused in the games of Samba or Canastaj although of course it may bedesigned for three or more decks (or packs when shuffling a single deckof cards by splitting the deck and placing the packs resulting therefromon the platforms of the device).

One object of the invention is to provide a vsimple and efficientdevicey in which one or more packs of vcards may be inserted and whichwill operate to eject the cards alternately from two or more packs anddischarge them into a common bottomless receptacle for thereby'Ashufing" the' packs and thoroughly intermixing them, the de'- vicebeing manually operable by means of turning a crank thereon `and capableof intermixing the cards ata rapid rate of speed and convenientlyremovable from a table .top `or the like to afford access to the shuiedcards.

Another object is to provide a mechanical means for shuthing playingcards to obviate' hand shuihing thereof as commonly practiced, wherebypersons unskilled i'n such operations may easily and quickly etfect athorough intermixing of the cards.

Another object is to provide a card shui'ng machine in which the actionof the mechanism onpacks of cards is accomplished through the medium ofrevolving rollers having friction surfaces to engage the cardssuccessively as they are dealt from the packs placed in the device, thearrangement being such that the cards are deposited on slightly inclinedplatforms and are gravity-fed to the rollers that eject them from thepacks.

Still another object is to provide a device of the above character whichis adapted to be employed for ejecting cards from different packs andthereby shuiing them, and which is so designed that it will properlyeject the desired number of cards from the respective packs of cardsregardless of whether they are straight or curved.

A further object is to` provide a card shuffling machine which is simplein construction and employs lhut few parts and is adapted tobe readilyassembled, also which is not liable'to get out of order and is easilyoperated and highly efficient in action, compact in size, economical to;manufacture and ycontains a minimum number of parts conducive' topractical operation.

An additional object is to provide a card shuffling structure whereinpacks of playing cards need merely be inserted manually onto platformsofthe structure and rotary movement then imparted to the mechanism foraccomplishing the shufing operation, provision being made to facilitatethe collection of the cards comprising the packs after they have beenshuied in a lower receptacle which is part of the shuting machine, andthe mechanism being operable to thoroughly and quickly shuffle orintermix playing cards coming from a plurality of packs and falling intoa common stack.

Another additional object is to provide a stop means for the packs ofcards and adjustments therefor which United States Patent() 2', permitthe feeding of one, two or more cards as desired from the differentpacks in the card shufller.

A further additional object is to provide a stop cooperating with aroller in such manner as to feed the cards whether curved upwardly ordownwardly, thus insuring' proper operationof the shutiler under allcircumstances.

Ay further additional object is to provide a stop and roller card feedercapable of relative adjustment as de'- siredy by the user, and toprovide an arrangement for facing a feed roller with rubber wherein thefacing consists of a rubber band associated with the roller in a novelmanner. i

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in theconstruction', arrangement and combination of they variousparts of myAcard shufer, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, ashereinafter more fulvly set forth, pointed out in my claims andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a vertical sectional view through a card shther rembodyingmy present invention, two packs of cards being shown therein beingdeposited in a common pile within ai compartment of the shuiier.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a partial side elevationof the far side shown in Figure ltot show the drive for' the feed rollers of the silule'r. Y

Figure 4 isa perspective View of one of the feed rollers and one of therubber bands used for facing it.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail sectionalv view showing one of theadjusting knobs for one of the card stops.

Figure 6 is` a perspective view of one of the card stops; andv Figure 7is an enlarged sectional view on the line 7-7 of Figure l to show theaction of the shuffl'er in connection with cards which are curved.

On the accompanying drawing l have used thev reference numerals 10 and12 to indicatev side walls of my card shuffler, which walls may be madeof wood, plastic, metal or the like. A front wall 14 is provided ,and aplatform 16 extends between the walls, there being a fourth wall 18shown in Figure l to provide a compartment between the wallsv 14 and 18for the reception of shuiiied cards C3. These cards come from a pair ofpacks of cards Cl and C2 as will hereinafter appear.

The-wall 16 forms a platform for supporting the deck of cards C2. Abovethis deck I provide a stop member 22 in the form of a plate having sideanges Z3 and 24, th'e stopl member being thereby channehshaped incrosssection. Openings are provided at the four corners of the plate 22,specifically in the flanges- 23 and 24 thereof, and these may be'identified in` Figure 6 as three openings 26 and a fourth one 28 whichis horizontally slotted. Screws- 25 extend through the threer openings26 into the side walls 10 and 12, and these may be ordinary wood screws.

A ymat'ehin'e screw 30 extends through the opening 28 as shown in Figure5 and through a knob 3-2 having an eccentric portion 34 rotatable in anopening 36 of the side wall 12. A nut 38 retains the screw 30' inposition with the knob '32 rotatable in the opening 36 so 'as' toadjust'- th'e nearest end of the ange y24 in Figure 6 up wardly ordownwardly by rotation of the knob. The opening 28 being slotted permitsof such adjustment, and the purpose thereof will hereinafter appear. Theadjustment twists the plate 22 but this is immaterial, the resultantadjustment being in the height of the point 42 above bands 70 of aroller to be described.

The plate 22 is a stop plate and has a stop flange 40 on the front endthereof and this flange is preferably triangular in shape with a pointindicated at 42.: In addition to being a stop plate, 22 serves as aplatform for the second pack of cards C1.

Above the plate 22 is a similar plate 22a as shown in Figure 1 and it issimilarly identified by means of the numerals 23a to 42a and has similarelements as indicated by the subscript a throughout the drawings.

For dealing the cards from the decks C1 and C2 as at 72, 74 and 76 intothe pile C3, I provide rollers 44 and 44a which may be formed of wood orthe like and which are offset relative to each other for best carddealing results as shown in Figure 1. These are a friction fit on shafts46 and 46a, which shafts are driven by pulleys 48 and 48a and a belt 50from a relatively larger driving pulley 52 rotatable on a screw 54 andhaving a crank 56 for manual engagement in rotating the pulley 52. Thescrew 54 is mounted in a plate 58 secured as by screws 60 to the insideof the wall 10, and the pulleys 48, 48a and 52 may be covered by a coverplate 64 on the outside of the wall secured in position by screws 62.

The roller 44 has a slot 66 therein, and an enlarged bore 68 whichreceives a rubber band 70 acting as a facing of friction type for theroller. Two of these bands 70 may be provided as illustrated for theroller 44 and are looped around the shaft as shown in Figure 4, beforebeing slipped into position along the roller with radial portions 72extending through the slot 66 from the shaft 46 to the periphery of theroller, and the band then extending around the roller. I have found itadvantageous to have the radial portion 72 of one band diametricallyopposite the other to improve the gripping action on the cards andproperly start them in the successively shuffling operations. The roller44a, of course, is of similar construction to the roller 44.

It will be noted that the friction bands 70 are relatively close to thecenter of the cards (see Figure 2) and they cooperate with the point 42of the stop member 22 for properly feeding the desired number of cardsand for properly feeding them whether they are curved upwardly ordownwardly as indicated by dotted lines. This is shown schematically inFigure 7 wherein solid lines show two upwardl;l curved cards and onlyone of them will feed through; whereas when they are curved the otherway, as shown by dotted lines, likewise only one will feed through asthe other one is held back by the point 42 of the stop flange 40. Also,to aid in the proper feeding of curved cards, central projections 17 and27 may be provided on the platforms 16 and 22 respectively.

In the operation of a card shufller for mixing two packs of cards, it isdesirable that substantially the same number of cards be fed from eachpack C1 and C2 so that the two packs are depleted at substantially thesame time. This can be nicely adjusted by means of the knobs 32 and 32awhich, if desired, may be calibrated for the number of cards that willbe fed. Alternatively, the rollers may be adjusted as to elevation whilethe stops may be made stationary. As long as there is relativeadjustment of the rollers and stops, the desired number of cards at onetime can be fed by rotation of the rollers.

By having the stop flanges 40 gauge the cards at only the center, due tothe point (not necessarily a short point) at 42 and the relativenarrowness of the effective parts of the rollers 44 and 44a (representedby the combined widths of the two rubber bands 70 or 72a as the case maybe), and aided by the projections 17 and 27, the cards are permitted tocurve either upwardly or downwardly and when proper adjustment of theknobs 32 and 32a is had, they will still feed as though they were not So4 curved and each of the packs C1 and C2 will be depleted substantiallysimultaneously.

Also the arrangement is such that the cards can be inserted one packabove the other and will be deposited in the receptacle formed by thewalls 14 and 19 and on a table top or the like indicated at 20,whereupon the shuffler may be lifted and the shuffled pack C3 picked upin a convenient manner. The housing, however, may have a bottom or adrawer or tray to receive the shuffled cards.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my card shuffler without departing from the real spirit andpurpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claimsany modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents whichmay be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a card shuffling device, a housing, holding means therein adaptedto maintain a pair of packs of cards in substantially horizontalposition one above the other, a pair of friction rollers each adapted tobear against the undermost cards of a corresponding one of said packs tofeed the cards from each pack into a common stack, a channel-shapedplate for each pack secured adjacent three of its corners to saidhousing and having a fourth comer adjustable for twisting said plate,each of said plates being disposed above a corresponding roller andhaving a downwardly extending stop flange which is adjusted in relationto said roller by the adjustment of said fourth corner, said holdingmeans including a platform for supporting the lower pack of cards, thechannel-shaped plate therefor constituting a supporting platform for theupper pack.

2. In an apparatus for shuffling cards, a housing, an inclinedsupporting platform therein adapted to support a first pack of cardsthereon, a first inclined plate above said support to serve as a supportfor a second pack of cards, a second inclined plate above said secondpack, each of said inclined plates being secured adjacent three of itscorners to said housing and having a fourth corner adjustable fortwisting said plate, a pair of rollers below said packs for feedingcards from the corresponding bottoms thereof into a portion of saidhousing spaced ahead of and below said rollers, said rollers beingoffset to intermingle the cards from the two packs as they are fedthereby to deposit them in a common stack, said inclined supportingplatform and said first inclined plate having central projectionsadjacent the rear ends of the packs, and said inclined plates eachhaving a downwardly extending stop flange which is adjusted in relationto a corresponding roller by the adjustment of said fourth corner.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 507,930Ranney Oct. 31, 1893 1,014,219 Hall Ian. 9, 1912 1,847,346 Lux Mar. l,1932 1,969,117 Bohling Aug. 7, 1934 2,048,942 McConnell July 28, 19362,159,958 Sachs May 23, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,427 Great Britain 189117,656 Great Britain 1907 183,739 Germany Apr. 6, 1907

